Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Hanifiyyah means affirming the Oneness of Allah, sincerely worshipping Him alone, and turning away from shirk and everything worshipped besides Allah. It is the religion of Abraham, peace be upon him, which Allah commanded His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the believers to follow.
Allah says:
“Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a Hanif, a Muslim, and he was not among the polytheists.”
[Aal ‘Imran: 67]
And Allah says:
“Say, ‘Indeed, my Lord has guided me to a straight path—a correct religion—the religion of Abraham, a Hanif, and he was not among the polytheists.’”
[Al-An‘am: 161]
A Hanif is one who turns away from shirk and falsehood toward Tawhid and truth; that is, someone who turns toward Allah, turns away from everything besides Him, and sincerely worships Him alone.
Al-Sa‘di, may Allah have mercy on him, explained that a Hanif is one who turns toward Allah, turns away from everything besides Him, establishes Tawhid, and abandons shirk.
Therefore, Hanifiyyah is not merely believing that Allah exists. Rather, it is based on worshipping Him alone and associating no one with Him.
No. In its essence, Hanifiyyah is Islam in its general meaning, which all the prophets brought: submission to Allah, affirming His Oneness, and worshipping Him alone.
The prophets agreed upon the foundation of faith and Tawhid, even though some laws and detailed rulings prescribed by Allah for their respective nations differed.
For this reason, the Qur’an described Abraham, peace be upon him, as “a Hanif, a Muslim,” and Allah commanded Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to follow his religion:
“Then We revealed to you, ‘Follow the religion of Abraham, a Hanif, and he was not among the polytheists.’”
[An-Nahl: 123]
Yes. A Muslim who follows Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and worships Allah alone is also following the religion of Abraham, because the Islam brought by Muhammad ﷺ is based on the same fundamental call of Abraham and all the prophets: affirming Allah’s Oneness and sincerely devoting religion to Him.
Ibn ‘Ashur explained that Islam is the Hanifiyyah, and that the Islam brought by Muhammad ﷺ is, in its foundation of Tawhid, the same message brought by Abraham, peace be upon him.
It is also reported from the Prophet ﷺ:
“I was sent with a tolerant Hanifiyyah,” and it has also been reported that the religion most beloved to Allah is “the tolerant Hanifiyyah.”
Before the mission of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, there remained individuals among the Arabs who rejected idol worship and tried to follow what remained of the religion of Abraham.
Among the most famous of them was Zayd ibn ‘Amr ibn Nufayl, who rejected Judaism, Christianity, and idol worship, and declared that he followed the religion of Abraham and worshipped Allah alone.
Hanifiyyah means sincerely worshipping Allah alone and turning away from shirk toward Tawhid.
It is the religion of Abraham, peace be upon him, and it is not a separate religion competing with Islam. Rather, its foundation is Islam and submission to Allah, which all the prophets preached.
After the mission of Muhammad ﷺ, following the religion of Abraham means following the Islam brought by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, not establishing a separate religion called “Hanifiyyah.”
And Allah knows best.